SpaceX Seeks To Provide Worldwide WiFi From Space

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — SpaceX will attempt Wednesday evening to launch the first of what could be thousands of satellites designed to provide space-based internet service worldwide.

The Hawthorne-based company plans to launch 60 "Starlink" satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida — the launch window opens at 7:30 p.m. California time.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted a photo over the weekend showing the 60 satellites crammed into the fairing atop the rocket, writing "First 60 SpaceX Starlink satellites loaded into Falcon fairing. Tight fit." He said the satellites are all "production design," unlike the two so- called "Tintin" demonstration satellites the company launched last year.

Musk's goal of creating a space-based internet network will require far more than just 60 satellites. Musk noted that providing "minor" internet coverage would require six more launches of 60 satellites each, while offering "moderate" coverage would require another 12 such launches.

SpaceX has previously estimated that its proposed Starlink array could involve as many as 12,000 satellites in varying orbits to provide global internet coverage, with the project taking at least a decade to implement.

On Twitter, Musk wrote "Much will likely go wrong on 1st mission. Also, 6 more launches of 60 sats needed for minor coverage, 12 for moderate."

City News Service contributed to this post